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How do i get started using a propellor chip or PIC chip? Answered

I always see really cool things people make with propellor and pic chips but i never knew where to start. And what are some pro's and con's of propellor vs pic chips. Ive done alot of research but i wasnt sure so i figured i would ask people who know. All help appreciated :D

3 Replies

I use a PIC Kit 1 and PIC 16F684, which is recommended in "123 PIC Microcontroller Experiments for the Evil Genius" by Myke Predco. I found it hard to learn--I was glad I knew some assembly language programming (the book also teaches programming in C). The programming tools look somewhat like those of the AVR studio as shown on the Internet.

From what guyfrom7up says, unless you are good at programming, propeller chips sound difficult. I found a quote at (http://www.chibots.org/?q=node/463) : "Ahh the propeller chip, something I have a love/hate relationship with. I've worked with the BASIC Stamp for about 10 years now and have been working with the propeller chip for about the last 6 months. The two are very different. As for the propeller chip, it is in no way a beginners chip. Having experience with any microcontroller is pretty much a must before moving on to the propeller chip."

If you are a beginner, Basic Stamp and Arduino have nice starter kits. I was able to program the Basic Stamp easily, but moved on to the PIC, and it has been a pain. I can't speak for AVR.

The best way to learn Propeller chip programming is with the Propeller Education Kit. We have a ton of resources available, many of them free. No need to start with a different microcontroller first, we have had many newbies learn on the Propeller and the Propeller Education Kit Labs are very well written.

propellor chips are like a bunch of pic chips in one package, they can run multiple lines of code simultaneously. PICS (like other microcontrollers) can only run 1 line at a time. Propeller chips are more expensive, though.

Also note, I've never used a propeller and i've rarely used a PIC. I personally use AVR's. They have been shown to run more efficiently (but some PIC lover will say different, it's really a topic to debate which are better, PICs or AVRs). Also, AVRs have a nice piece of software called AVR studio, i havn't found a similar program for PICs, but if anyone know of one that'd be great.